


mintonette

by oredatte



Category: Haikyuu!!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia), Friends to Lovers, KiriBaku Month 2019, M/M, Trans Bakugou Katsuki, Trans Nishinoya Yuu, day 2: crossover, it's like... 90 percent bnha but there are a few hq characters!, noya teaches bakugou the meaning of friendship, oh that's right. it's a volleyball au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 16:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20085301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oredatte/pseuds/oredatte
Summary: Bakugou Katsuki finally gets what he always wanted, a spot on Yuuei High School’s boys' volleyball team, but he also gets a lot of extra bullshit on top of it. Not only does he have to deal with the stupidly attractive captain, Kirishima Eijirou, but he has to deal with the rest of his idiot teammates on top of a trip to Miyagi to play against Karasuno's renowned team.





	mintonette

**Author's Note:**

> hey hi this is day 2 for kiribaku month 2019!!! today's prompt is "crossover" so of course i had to do haikyuu!! i've never written hq before so it's been an adventure.. fun fact: the name of this fic, mintonette, is actually the original name for the game of volleyball, which i thought was cool..... enjoy!

Katsuki has been playing volleyball for as long as he can remember. It started when he was a different person, when he wore dresses and his hair was long, when his teammates were girls with pigtails and flowery shorts. He still plays it now, but it’s different, better—he wears slacks and his hair is short, and his teammates are annoying boys with loud voices and basketball shorts that don’t quite fit right.

He’s 17, now, going into his second year at Yuuei. It took months of tantrums, but the school has finally decided that he’s been on T long enough to join the boys’ team, and today is his first day coming to the gym on a Monday instead of a Tuesday. Part of him will miss the few teammates he had that didn’t suck, which pretty much means only Uraraka and Yaomomo, but he’s more than ready to play on the court he was always meant to play on. He’s ready to be among his peers, fellow boys, people who will finally be able to challenge him in earnest.

He’s a spiker, of course. This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. Spikers get to hit the ball as hard as they can, aiming for blood (at least in Katsuki’s case), and there’s nothing more exhilarating than slamming a ball full force into some idiot’s face. As far as he knows, the Yuuei team already has a spiker, but it’s Shitty Deku, and Katsuki could knock that little bastard into orbit with one hand tied behind his back. Today, he’s gonna dunk on everyone so hard that they’ll have to have him on the starting lineup.

The captain, whose name Katsuki didn’t bother to learn, asked him to show up early, so he did, though he’s annoyed about it. He swaggers into the gym an hour before practice officially starts, already psyching himself up to destroy the competition. The captain is already there, in a skintight camo tank top and neon pink basketball shorts, and Katsuki dies a little inside. Seriously, who the hell dressed this guy? It’s like a thrift store threw up on a test for colorblindness. He grins widely when he sees Katsuki, showing off unnaturally sharp teeth—does he fucking _file _them? Man, with those teeth, that outfit, and his bright ass red hair spiked up like a goddamn Christmas tree, Katsuki thinks this guy looks more like a shitty anime character than a real dude.

“Hey, Bakugou!” He greets, voice loud and echoing in the empty gym, “It’s great to see you again!”

“Yeah, whatever. Why’d you want me here early, Shitty Hair?”

“The name’s Kirishima Eijirou. Ki-ri-shi-ma. Got it?”

Katsuki huffs but says nothing. Shitty Hair shrugs, like he didn’t expect anything else. Seems like he’s a fast learner.

“Anyway. I called you here to do a little test, of sorts! We’re gonna run a bunch of drills so I can get a feel for how you move on the court. I went to your last game, so I know you’re really good, but we do things a bit different here, and I wanna see what you got. We’re playing Karasuno in a few weeks and we need every edge we can get.”

Karasuno? Katsuki’s never even heard of them. He’ll kick their collective asses singlehandedly and then beat everyone at Yuuei, too. They’re testing _him_? They’re testing Bakugou fucking Katsuki, the best volleyball player to ever live? “Fuckin’ bring it on, Shitty Hair, I ain’t got all day!”

Oh boy, does Shitty Hair bring it. He works Katsuki down the bone, almost beating him out more than once, but Bakugou stays ahead, just barely, just by the skin of his teeth. Is he not the greatest player anymore? If this idiot can nearly beat him, then there are surely others who can dunk on him in earnest, too.

No way. No fucking way. It’s just not goddamn possible.

The rest of the team eventually wanders into the gym and Katsuki learns that it is, in fact, possible. He knows it’s possible because there’s someone here doing it. Some stupid idiot with even dumber hair than Shitty Hair, a guy who literally has an entire nickname based on how dumb his hair is. It’s half red, half white, and it makes him look like a whole dipshit.

And god, don’t even get Katsuki started on fucking Deku. Little shit’s nowhere near close to his level, of course, but he’s a _lot_ closer than he was when they were in middle school and still played together. It’s like he’s an entirely different person, like he somehow learned how to play volleyball overnight, because Deku was fucking _terrible_ before. Now he’s decent and getting better and Katsuki can feel his throne buckling beneath him.

After that goddamn train wreck of a practice, Katsuki stalks off to the locker room, sweaty and pissed. His sports bra is chafing and head hurts and he just wants to blow some shit up before sleeping for three hundred years. He briefly considers going into the empty women’s locker room for some privacy, but he says fuck it and goes into the men’s, because it’s not like the others don’t know. Coach Aizawa made a big deal about everyone accepting him or whatever, airing all his business in front all his idiot teammates, which probably just made things worse. Katsuki figures that he could take any of the skinny assholes on the team—except the captain, who’s built like a brick shithouse—so he’s not worried about anyone bothering him. Talk shit, get hit, as they say.

He steps out of the way too long shower he took expecting an empty locker room, but he finds Shitty Hair instead, curled up on a bench and hunched over his phone. He must’ve showered, too, because his hair is limp and hanging down, framing his cheeks like velvet curtains. Katsuki feels his traitorous heart skip a beat.

“Hey, Bakugou! Got a minute?”

Katsuki huffs. “I fucking guess so. Let me put some goddamn clothes on first.”

Shitty Hair laughs, a deep, sonorous sound that echoes through the locker room and rattles Katsuki’s teeth. “Yeah, dude, of course! Go get dressed, I’ll be here.”

Not deeming that worthy of a response, Katsuki stomps off toward his gym bag. He slips his binder on, thankful that he’s done working out so he can finally wear it, and tosses on some joggers and an old Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt. Honestly, he doesn’t even know why he has this shirt, he doesn’t like them all that much because he thinks all their songs sound the same.

As promised, Shitty Hair is still sitting there when Katsuki slinks back, tapping away at some stupid game on his phone.

“Make it quick, hair for brains, I wanna get the fuck outta here.”

“Oh, yeah, it’ll only be a minute, I promise. I just wanted to know what you thought of the team.”

Rolling his eyes as derisively as he can manage, Katsuki drawls, “It’s shit. Half of them act like they’ve never seen a volleyball before in their life and the other half is passable but they’re all too ass backwards to get anything done. No one’s in the right position, they’re basically all running around on the goddamn court like chickens with their heads cut off. It’s ridiculous.”

“Do you wanna help?”

“Hah?”

That blinding shark grin is back and Katsuki has to divert his eyes, lest he go blind. “I’ve only been captain for, like, a week, and I really need to get this team into shape before the Karasuno match. You think you can help me make this work?”

“With _those_ idiots?” Katsuki asks, trying to fit as much vitriol into those three words as he possible can, “Fat fucking chance.”

“Oh, are you not up to it? The Almighty Bakugou can’t handle a bunch of teenagers?”

Okay, Katsuki’s not an idiot, he _knows_ when he’s being goaded. But he also really wants to be on a winning team—it would definitely be possible with just him, because he fucking rocks, but it _would_ be significantly easier if the rest of them weren’t so goddamn useless. So he allows himself to get goaded.

He’s been to a single practice and is somehow already vice-captain, something that seems to annoy the shit out of all his teammates. He thinks it’s hilarious and appropriate, because there’s no one who would do a better job, not even Half n’ Half, that plank of wood.

In the weeks leading up to the Karasuno match, Kirishima and Katsuki whip their team into shape like their lives depend on it. They rotate everyone’s position until they find the one that works best for each of them, run practice late into the night, rep drills and exercises until the whole team is panting, and it _works._ They get better and better and Katsuki feels stupidly proud, not just of himself like he expected but of the entire team, too, and especially Kirishima.

Going into it, despite his wide grin and bold words, Kirishima had zero confidence in himself or his ability to play and lead. He’s stupidly strong, something he didn’t believe until Katsuki told him point blank, trying to beat it into his skull. He’s also a natural leader—arguably more so than Katsuki is—but he kept second guessing himself and allowing the team to argue with him, changing his mind and waffling if he thought he was upsetting someone. Katsuki had to beat that attitude out of him, too.

As an inevitable side effect of spending so many hours working closely with one another, they start building a friendship, one with a strong foundation of mutual respect. Katsuki’s never had something like this before.

They’re close to becoming best friends, now, and Katsuki doesn’t know how he hasn’t managed to chase Kirishima off yet. Everyone he’s ever been this open with has abandoned him, looking into his core and finding it thoroughly rotten. He can’t say he blames them, because if given the choice, he’d abandon himself, too.

But Kirishima is different. He always talks about how nice Katsuki can be, how soft he is, how much he likes spending time with him. It’s absolute insanity.

Katsuki is an overthinker, so of course he goes half crazy trying to figure out why on earth Kirishima likes him as much as he does, but he comes up with nothing. It’s completely baffling, but Katsuki has decided to do himself a solid and not look a gift horse in the mouth. He tends to ruin everything he tries to understand, so he just… won’t try to understand, this time. He’ll let it be what it is, because what it is is really good.

A week and a half before the Karasuno match, Kirishima gathers the team together for a meeting, something he’s literally never done before, even back when Katsuki was still on the women’s team.

“Alright, everyone, settle down. Denki if you throw one more ball I’m dunking you into the basketball hoop and leaving you there,” Kirishima threatens half-heartedly, being a softie at heart and also best friends with Kaminari, Yuuei’s resident idiot and Katsuki’s number one verbal punching bag.

Sero Hanta, another one of Kirishima’s close friends and thus someone who hangs around Katsuki for no reason, snorts a laugh. “You got the dunks for that, Eijirou?”

“I can and will dunk on every single one of you. But that’s totally not the point, we’re supposed to be having a meeting right now, stop distracting me. This was actually Mina’s idea, so I’ll give her the floor.”

Ashido Mina is their manager, a girl with dark skin and a bubblegum pink afro, and yet another person that Katsuki finds himself around pretty regularly. She’s loud and nosy but Katsuki likes her well enough because she gives as good as she gets when he teases her, always shooting back quips lightning fast, and she helps him make fun of Kirishima and his two idiot friends. She’s usually the one who takes care of the more administrative side of things, working closely with Coach Aizawa and their faculty sponsor, Yamada-sensei, because Kirishima couldn’t organize his way out of a paper bag.

She claps her hands together happily, excited about whatever dumb announcement she’s going to make, and Katsuki groans loudly. She looks way too pleased with herself, which means that this is going to be terrible for them or just him specifically. Kaminari elbows Katsuki in the ribs and he slaps him upside the head in return, Sero shushes the both of them and they groan, as is the usual progression of their interactions. They’re on their way to becoming actual friends, Katsuki thinks, but wouldn’t really know—his only other friend besides Kirishima is Jirou, the manager of his old team and the only one besides Uraraka who he still talks to, and they have a weird relationship based on snark and a mutual ignoring of their problems.

“Alright, guys, so here’s the deal: I’m sure you all know we’re playing Karasuno next Sunday. Well, we’ve gotten special permission to make it into a weekend trip! We’ll be heading out as soon as school ends on Friday, skipping classes on Saturday, playing on Sunday, then driving back Monday morning, hopefully only missing the classes before lunch. You all need to get your parents to sign the permission slips if you want to play.”

Whoa, holy shit, how’d she get the school to agree to that?

Well, maybe it’s not _that_ crazy. Katsuki’s had his fair share of interactions with Principal Nezu from when he was campaigning to get his name changed and trying to switch to the boys’ team, so he knows that the guy is fucking nuts. Sometimes Katsuki thinks he does things just for shits and giggles, hiring incompetent fools because he finds it funny, making arbitrary decisions based on literally nothing but what mood he’s in. Katsuki would respect it if it wasn’t so damn annoying.

Half n’ Half, the bastard, raises his hand. “Why?”

Mina looks nothing short of perplexed. “Why what?”

“Why are we making it a weekend trip? There’s nothing to do in Miyagi.”

“Oh, it’s going to be a training weekend, we’re not sightseeing! We’ll spend Friday night relaxing and getting to know the Karasuno team, Saturday will be a joint all-day training camp, and on Sunday, we’ll play the game.”

Katsuki scoffs. “Why should we even bother with those losers?”

“They’re the best team in Miyagi,” Kirishima chimes in, “It’d do us some good to learn from them.”

“They can’t teach us shit.”

Of course, Deku has to open his big fat mouth. “Well, Kacchan, we’re not even in the top 5 in Kanagawa so there’s no way we’re better than—”

“Shut the fuck up, Deku!”

“Alright, enough! Bakugou, chill out, man. It’s just some training camp. You can show off all you want and prove how much better you are, but you’ll have to actually go there to do that,” Kirishima says, knowing exactly how to get Katsuki to simmer down instantly. There’s just something about Kirishima that calms Katsuki, that makes him want to obey just the tiniest bit. It’s disgusting.

It’s an uphill battle to get the hag to sign the form, but he manages it just in time, grumbling as he stomps to the staff room to give it to Yamada-sensei. He doesn’t know why she has to make everything so difficult.

When the fateful Friday arrives, the team clambers onto the bus, dressed in PJ pants and carrying pillows in preparation for the six-hour drive. Katsuki downloaded like 13 episodes of Kitchen Nightmares in preparation, so he should be ready to rock and roll. He of course heads straight to the back of the bus, flopping down into a window seat and putting on his best resting bitchface to discourage anyone from sitting next to him.

Unsurprisingly, Kirishima is undeterred by Katsuki’s death glare, happily sliding into the aisle seat and pressing his shoulder up against Katsuki’s. Katsuki’s heart may or may not start to pound.

So what? He’s not embarrassed to have a stupid crush on the stupid sexy captain of his stupid volleyball team. Kirishima is loyal and kind, warm and determined, steadfast and strong, and also ridiculously hot, so it’s kind of inevitable that Katsuki fell for him. Someone who can keep getting up no matter how many times he’s knocked down, someone who’s unbreakable, someone who looks at Katsuki and sees the good—how could he not love someone like that?

It takes only 20 minutes of Kirishima wheedling for Katsuki to break, grumpily handing over one of his earbuds so they can watch Kitchen Nightmares together on the stupid iPad Katsuki’s dad got for Christmas but couldn’t figure out how to use.

They fall asleep some time later, awoken by Mina announcing a rest stop. Katsuki’s head is resting on Kirishima’s shoulder when he opens his eyes, and he’d normally flip his lid about something like that, but in that hazy space between sleep and wakefulness, he lets himself enjoy it, if just for a moment. Who knows when this chance will arise again.

After a quick bathroom and coffee break, they all pile back onto the bus, significantly quieter than they were the first time they climbed aboard. It does wonders for Katsuki’s slightly sour, woken-up-too-early mood.

As soon as his ass hits the itchy seat, Kirishima’s asleep again, now slumped over half on top of Katsuki. It takes some finesse and upper arm strength, but Katsuki eventually manages to arrange them comfortably, turning so his back is against the window and Kirishima’s head is lying on his chest. It’s a bit awkward because Katsuki’s not wearing his binder—you couldn’t pay him enough money to stay in that thing for six straight hours of sitting on his ass—but it’s not like Kirishima doesn’t know he’s trans. He’s wearing a hoodie and a sports bra, anyway, so it’s not like there’s even much to feel.

He gets through another two episodes of Kitchen Nightmares before falling asleep himself, head slumping forward to rest on top of Kirishima’s.

Some indeterminate amount of time later, Katsuki startles awake to the sound of a camera shutter, then a smack, and finally a yelp. He bolts upright, panicked, starting to hyperventilate when he realizes he’s pinned down and can’t move. He’s distracted enough by his imminent panic attack that he completely ignores Mina and Kaminari, who are trying (and failing) to look innocent as they scoot away from the scene of the crime.

The weight on top of him shifts and his heartrate increases further, now palpitating judging by the way every thump echoes in his ears. “Bakugou…?” A familiar voice grunts from above him and he starts to relax, little by little, piece by piece.

“Kirishima, get the fuck off of me,” Katsuki growls, trying to cover his anxiety with anger like he usually does, but he’s not sure it’s working.

“Oh, sorry, dude! You, uh… You okay? You look a little green around the gills, my man.”

Katsuki grinds his teeth, intending to snap out some acetic retort, but the words get caught in throat, congealing until all he can utter is a long groan bordering on a whimper. Suddenly, there are warm hands on his face, and crimson eyes boring into his own. “Okay, Bakugou, I need you to breathe with me, okay? I’m gonna count and you’re gonna breathe.”

Since Katsuki’s no idiot, he does as he’s told. Breathing exercises have been proven to help with anxiety, and that’s one of the things his therapist taught him to do after he got kidnapped in middle school.

They breathe together, in and out, in an out, and eventually Katsuki can’t hear his own heartbeat anymore.

After Katsuki’s completely calmed down, Kirishima looks around for Mina and Kaminari. “I thought I heard a camera shutter,” He says, “Did they startle you awake?”

Words still lodged in his chest, Katsuki can only nod, but that seems to be more than enough for Kirishima. Ever since Kirishima stayed at Katsuki’s house and saw Katsuki have a night terror, he’s been a veritable angel, endlessly patient with Katsuki and his mood swings and all the lashing out. Eventually, slowly but surely, Katsuki opened up to him, telling him about the nightmares and the panic attacks and the mania, about the kidnapping and his mother, about everything that makes Katsuki the way he is. He bares his rotten core and Kirishima simply helps him chip away the decayed parts to reveal a tender, vibrant center beneath it all.

Kirishima chews out Mina and Kaminari, somehow managing to yell at them through whispers, and they both offer Katsuki meek apologies. He waves them off. They didn’t know. They had no way to know.

They rest of the journey to Miyagi is quiet and warm, with Kirishima and Katsuki curled up in their own little world.

If there’s one thing to be said about the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team’s welcome committee, it’s this: they’re annoying as hell. Katsuki has only been in Miyagi for about 15 minutes but he’s about ready to kill a man in cold blood. Well, two men. Specifically, two short men with annoying names, stupid hair, and loud voices. They’ll fit right in with Katsuki’s idiotic teammates.

One has bright orange hair and a big grin on his face, which just pisses Katsuki off. It’s cute when Kirishima does it, but it’s obnoxious on anyone else, and that’s just a stone-cold fact. “I’m Hinata Shouyou! We know that you guys have been on that bus for a long time, so we thought we’d bring some snacks!”

It’s definitely a nice gesture, but Katsuki doesn’t give half a shit about nice gestures. He just wants to get to his and Kirishima’s hotel room and take his goddamn pants off, and maybe hit the hot tub if they keep it open late.

The other one is even shorter, with hair spiked up like Kirishima’s but black with a blonde streak in the middle, and Katsuki immediately dislikes him. When he talks, though, Bakugou changes his tune—the dude’s got a _real _nice voice, there’s just something about it that Katsuki really likes. “I’m Nishinoya Yuu, but you can call me Noya!” He greets them, waving jauntily in way that Katsuki should probably hate but actually kind of likes, “We’ve got a _lot _of goddamn food, so I hope y’all are hungry.”

They are all, incidentally, ravenous.

After introductions are made and the adults have linked up with one another, they’re set free to wreak havoc on this poor unsuspecting hotel.

Everyone floods into the lobby, Aizawa and Yamada-sensei heading straight to the desk to check in, while all the students follow Hinata and Noya to a large coffee table absolutely covered in food. Hinata said they brought snacks but it’s more like a feast, with fast food bags and konbini bentos and lots of cans of juice and coffee.

“This is incredible, guys, thanks!” Kirishima hums happily, causing the rest of the Yuuei squad (except Katsuki) to echo the sentiment and chime ‘thank you’.

Being a team of growing teenage boys plus Mina, they rapturously dig into the spread, excitedly babbling over one another and shoveling food into their mouths. Katsuki and Kirishima grab what they can and retreat, picking an empty couch to flop onto to enjoy their food in peace.

It’s not peaceful for long because they’re soon joined by Noya, who wedges himself between them like he has any goddamn right.

“Hey, Eiji, it’s been a while!” Noya hums, using Kirishima’s first name like he _knows _him, like he’s earned it, “How’ve you been, man?”

Kirishima grins his radiant shark grin and holds his fist out for Noya to bump, which he does. “I’ve been doing great, dude, how about you?”

“Oh, you know how it is.”

“Do I ever. How’s Asahi?”

Noya’s cheeks flush pink but in a good way, like when people say pregnant women glow. “He’s doing great! I got into his university so we’re moving in together in the spring, should be a nice change of pace to be in an actual city instead of the boonies.”

“He’s in Tokyo, right?”

“Yep, yep!”

“That’s pretty close to Musutafu! Bro, you gotta come visit some time, I can show you around and stuff. It’s definitely been too long.”

Cracking open a can of juice, Noya nods, looking thoughtful. “It really has been. Now, Eiji, is this the sexy Bakugou I’ve heard so much about?”

Katsuki turns bright red and Kirishima splutters, frantically waving his hands as if to shoo away the notion, nearly knocking over his can of coffee. “Yuu! Shut up! Bakugou, don’t listen to him, he’s being a jerk.”

“Oh, you don’t think I’m sexy?” Katsuki asks, trying to take a page out of Kaminari’s book and diffuse an awkward situation with humor.

It’s apparently Kirishima’s turn to blush because that boy looks like a damn tomato now. “Hey, whoa, I didn’t say that! Of course I think you’re sexy, you’re the sexiest person I know, but that’s really not the point!”

Holy shit, did he just say that Katsuki is the sexiest person he knows?

“Holy shit, Ei, you just made it worse, man! Way to dig your own grave!” Noya howls giddily before breaking down into raucous laughter that drowns out every other sound. “God, you’re so embarrassing.”

Kirishima rounds on Noya, “Oh, _I’m _the embarrassing one?! Remember when I walked in on you and Asahi making out in the bathroom at nationals last year and you told me that you were just trying to get food out of his teeth?”

“C’mon, dude, you don’t gotta air my dirty laundry like that!”

After holding out this long, Katsuki just can’t help it anymore. He starts to chuckle, which evolves into snickers, which eventually becomes a full-fledged laugh, a sound no one in the entire prefecture has ever heard before, besides shitty Deku.

Both Kirishima and Noya—as well as the rest of the Yuuei team—freeze in order to spectate the beauty of Katsuki’s snort-laugh. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Once the awe has died down, Katsuki starts engaging in Noya and Kirishima’s conversation in earnest, finding out that he really does like this tiny little libero. There’s a fire inside him that looks very much like the one Katsuki keeps locked in his chest, and he can respect that.

“So, why are you even here? It’s late as fuck. Don’t y’all have school tomorrow?” Katsuki asks, genuinely curious for once in his miserable little life.

Noya huffs a laugh. “We drew straws to pick who came here and I lost, so. But we don’t have school tomorrow, it’s some prefectural holiday or whatever, so we’ll be at training camp with you losers.”

“Losers is such a half-assed insult. It you’re gonna go in, you gotta go _in_,” Katsuki says, despite having used that exact insult a week and a half ago.

“Oh yeah? What do you think I should’ve said?”

Katsuki smirks. “Dildos.”

Noya squints as Katsuki, seemingly thoughtful about the prospect of calling them dildos, before trying it out. “We’ll be at training camp with you dildos. Oh shit, yeah, that’s a lot better, thanks Katsu!”

“What the fuck did you just call me?!”

“Hey, down boy. That’s just something Yuu does, you’ll have to get used to the nicknames. At least yours is cute,” Kirishima says, shooting a wide grin at Katsuki.

“What, is your nickname not good enough, Eiji?” Noya pouts, nudging Kirishima in the ribs, making him chuckle.

Kirishima shakes his head, replying, “Nah, Eiji’s fine. Ei’s good too. I’m talking about Denki’s.”

Noya snorts loudly, startling Katsuki and a few other people around them. “I think Kiki is a great nickname for him!”

“I second that notion,” Katsuki adds, _loving _the idea of calling Kaminari fucking Kiki.

Eventually, Aizawa and some other guy—probably the Karasuno coach, though he looks more like a homeless lifeguard than anything else—come by to gather up Hinata and Noya and send the Yuuei kids upstairs to bed. Hinata appears to have hit it off with shitty Deku, which is surprising to exactly no one, judging by the loud goodbyes they’re shouting at each other across the lobby. Noya simply waves his jaunty little half wave and Katsuki is actually a little sad to see him go.

As captain and vice-captain, Kirishima and Katsuki get to share a room between them, while all the other boys are doubled up with four to a room. This was music to Katsuki’s ears when he heard it—he can’t tolerate his teammates for more than a few hours at a time, so having respite from them at night is a great boon.

They both slept basically the entire drive up, so they’re wide awake, now, sitting in silence for a long time on their respective beds, thinking of stuff to do.

Katsuki decides to go check out the pool. If possible, he’d like to use the hot tub, even if he has to sneak in. Despite outward appearances, he’s not usually one to break rules, but god, he _really _wants to get in a damn hot tub right now.

After some reconnaissance, he learns that they don’t bother to block the hot tub at night, and upon pressing the button, discovers that they don’t even turn off the jet system. He zips back up stairs to slip on a tankini top and his swim trunks, heading straight back down to the pool, now with Kirishima hot on his heels.

The hot tub is heaven, just like Katsuki expected. Kirishima straight up moans when he climbs in.

They stay in the hot tub for a long, long time, talking and enjoying each other’s company. Katsuki leans over the edge to reach his phone, groaning when he sees that it’s already 2am, way past his bedtime. He’s normally in bed by 8:30pm, so this is ridiculous for him. He’ll be dead on his feet tomorrow, guaranteed.

He turns back to tell Kirishima how late it’s gotten, but he says nothing when he meets the smoldering crimson eyes locked on him.

“Hey, Bakugou, can I ask you something?” Kirishima asks, voice low and intimate, like he doesn’t want anyone to overhear, not even God.

“I guess. Can’t promise you’ll get an answer.”

“That’s fine. Do you, um… Goddamn it, shit, I’ll just ask. Do you wanna go on a date with me?”

Katsuki bluescreens. Holy mother of god, this can’t be happening, there’s no way this isn’t a dream. Kirishima?! Asking him out?! In the year of our lord 2019?! Unheard of! Impossible!

“Dude, you are _so _red, are you okay?” Kirishima reaches out to cup Katsuki’s blazing cheeks, a gesture so soft and sweet that Katsuki feels himself combust a little inside. Warm fingers travel from Katsuki’s face to his hair, gently pushing his bangs back.

It takes Katsuki a long time to reply, but he eventually manages it. “Fucking… When?”

“When what?”

“When are you taking me out or whatever?”

The resultant grin is absolutely blinding.

They sneak back upstairs and into their room, taking quick showers before sliding into their beds, both filled with excited energy. They’ll go out next week, they’ve decided, to Katsuki’s favorite curry place—they sell curry so spicy you have to sign a consent form before they’ll serve it to you.

For now, they fall easily into sleep, looking forward to tomorrow.

As it turns out, they should not have been looking forward to tomorrow. Training camp is absolute hell, with the Karasuno coach, Ukai, working them to the goddamn bone. Aizawa takes a step back and lets Ukai take over, which means they play scrimmage game after scrimmage game, constantly switching teams and mixing players and it ends up being a whole mess. By the time lunch rolls around, the Yuuei team is already half dead, most slumped over the tables in the cafeteria and panting.

Noya is full of energy, of course, like they haven’t just played intense volleyball for four straight hours. He prances over to Katsuki and Kirishima and squishes himself between them yet again, grinning when Katsuki growls at him.

He and Kirishima babble back and forth, with Katsuki sometimes throwing in his two cents, while they all scarf down their meals. Katsuki feels like he should be annoyed but he’s not.

Maybe he’s still riding the high of getting asked out by the man he may or may not be in love with.

Afternoon exercises are somehow even more brutal now that Aizawa’s taken the reins, and by the end of it, both teams are lying on the floor of the gym, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what they did to deserve this. Yuuei knew Aizawa could be ruthless—he’s infamous for kicking people off the team for virtually no reason—but this is some next level shit.

Somehow, beyond all odds, Noya is up and about. He bounces across the gym, handing out sports drinks and water bottles, humming to himself like he’s in a fucking movie instead of Volleyball Hell with the rest of them.

Once he’s made his rounds, he approaches Katsuki, sitting down near his head and looking him dead in the eyes. “He’s special, you know that, right?”

“Hah?” What the fuck is he talking about?

Noya rolls his eyes, making Katsuki annoyed enough to grind his teeth. “Eiji, stupid. He’s special. He’s special and you better treat him right.” Oh my god. Really?

“Are you giving me the fucking shovel talk right now? Are you for real?”

“Eiji’s my friend, Katsu, I gotta protect him as best I can. I like you and think you’re funny as hell but if you so much as breathe wrong in his general direction, that’ll be the end for you.”

Katsuki snorts, but it’s not derisive. He snorts the way a horse does—there are many meanings and interpretations, and most of the time, even Katsuki doesn’t know what he means by them. “You don’t gotta worry about him,” He says matter-of-factly, “He can take care of himself. And it’s not like I’m planning on pulling any bullshit, he’s the best goddamn thing that’s ever happened to me.”

A pause. “Katsu?”

“Fucking _what_?”

“What’s your email address? We should keep in touch.”

It doesn’t happen until Sunday night, while Katsuki’s still pumped full of endorphins from winning their game against Karasuno, but they do eventually exchange email addresses. On the drive back to Kanagawa on Monday, Noya texts him constantly, sending pictures of his teammates doing weird things and stupid memes he finds on twitter.

Katsuki’s not sure how he managed it, but he entered Miyagi single and lonely, and left with a new friend _and _a boyfriend. Maybe there’s something to be said about broadening your horizons.

**Author's Note:**

> definitely did miss the deadline by literally a minute but... it's all for fun so it's okay! i tagged trans noya bc he's trans in this although it didn't really come up.. it's why katsuki started to like him so quickly, us trans boys have like a Sixth Sense for finding each other lol ALSO the thing about their voices: noya and katsuki have the same seiyuu!!! so katsuki heard his own voice and was like huh.... i like that shit
> 
> thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/transboybakugou) and [tumblr](https://transgenos.tumblr.com) and [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/oredatte)  



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